Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes is one of the most formidable figures in the game when it comes to the transfer window, and he could be about to play another huge role in Liverpool’s summer business.
Mendes, who runs his own GestiFute player agency is one of the most significant football agents of all time and lists top players and managers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez and Jose Mourinho among his clients. He also has previous in dealing with the Reds, representing Diogo Jota, Fabio Carvallho and Fabinho in their moves to Anfield.
He has acquired Liverpool target Darwin Nunez as one of his clients. The Benfica striker switched agents this summer from his Uruguayan representative Edgardo Lasalvia to link up with Mendes, who is lining up a blockbuster switch.
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The ECHO understands Liverpool’s interest in Nunez, who scored a remarkable 34 goals in 41 appearances for the Portuguese side last season, is genuine. His exploits included six Champions league goals and two against Liverpool in the quarter-final. He has emerged as one of the most sought-after forwards in Europe and has been linked to numerous clubs including Manchester United, who last week were reported to be favourites for his signature.
However, the ECHO has also reported that Jurgen Klopp’s side will not be drawn into an auction with United over the in-demand forward that could see them pay above their valuation. Nunez is among a number of players on the Reds' shortlist as they look to continue evolving their attack with Sadio Mane and Takumi Minamino likely to follow Divock Origi in departing this summer.
Nevertheless, they appreciate that any final fee is likely to challenge or even surpass the club record £75m the Reds paid to take Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January 2018.
Nunez’s age and style of play make him an attractive proposition for Liverpool. However, they are continuing to assess other options in the event a deal for Nunez does not prove realistic.
With the potential prohibitive price, Liverpool and particularly new Sporting Director Julian Ward will hope to be able to pull off something similar to what they did with Luis Diaz. It has been widely reported how the Reds gazumped Tottenham to the £37.5m signing of the Colombian in January, much to the fury of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. Diaz has excelled since his move to Anfield, scoring six times and adding five assists in 26 appearances for the Reds.
Diaz was in high demand in January with a number of clubs including Spurs and Barcelona interested after he scored 16 goals and contributed four assists in just 26 appearances during the first half of the campaign. The Colombian’s release clause of £66.8m was seen as too steep for the Reds and Spurs were the first club to negotiate with him in January.
The notoriously tough negotiator Levy managed to haggle down the fee to £37.5m after dealing with Mendes, who had been given a mandate by Porto to complete the move, much to the annoyance of Diaz’s own agent, Carlos Van Strahalen. This created confusion surrounding which agent was working on the deal however and Liverpool, led by Ward, took advantage.
The Reds were tipped off by their South American scout and made the most of the disagreements between Mendes, Van Strahalen and Porto. They swooped in and signed Diaz for the cut price fee. According to The Athletic, Levy was reportedly ‘furious’ with Liverpool’s action and the relationship between the two clubs could be ‘seriously damaged’ as a result.
With Liverpool keen to sign Nunez, but reluctant to get involved in a bidding war, they will have to hope that United officials manage to haggle down the price of the Uruguayan, before pouncing on any opportunity to complete the deal.
Liverpool will raise substantial funds for any move with the expected sales of Minamino and Mane, along with the potential departures of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nat Phillips and Neco Williams and will try and generate all the cash they can in order to order to acquire Nunez.
